This invention relates to improvements in carpet seaming apparatus and relates particularly to improved apparatus for use with a carpet seaming tape or the like to produce a seam between adjacent edge portions of a carpet or other material.
In my Australian Pat. No. 529,440 and Patent Application No. 10491/83, I have described apparatus which includes means for passing a current through a strip of metal foil which is associated with or incorporated in a carpet joining tape, the apparatus having means to control the current flow through the metal foil so that heat generated thereby will act to soften an adhesive on the carpet joining tape, the apparatus further including means to hold the current flow at a selected predetermined value to maintain the adhesive in a softened condition and means selectively operated to increase the current to fully melt the adhesive.
The particular form of apparatus previously described utilized a power transformer the output of which was controlled by a Triac which, in turn, was controlled by a trigger module which sensed both the output voltage and current. A rheostat was used to vary the output voltage and current as desired.
While this apparatus functions well in most circumstances, it has been found that the weight of the apparatus is relatively high thus making it difficult to move from place to place. Further, the components of the apparatus must be completely redesigned for use on the various overseas main power systems.